Out of the Dark
by Peppermintswirl4812
Summary: A small child, only 7 years old, spent years of his life being forced to become a soldier, forced out of all childhood characteristics since he could walk. Going under tragedy that broke him. He became a mere broken shell of what a child was supposed to be. And the worst part is, he knows it.
1. Chapter 1

It was a bright sunny day in Central City. Flash and Captain Cold were busy fighting in a warehouse. Cold kept on firing his gun and missing.

"You are not making this easy!," He shouted.

"What? You didn't think I'd just let you get away with stealing chemicals did you?,"

Flash waited for his comeback but instead Cold just smirked. He held out a remote with a button.

"Nope," he said and hit it before Barry could react.

"What?! Woah!,"

And the building exploded with Barry inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Later…

Two kids were walking down the sidewalk towards the parking lot. They had just gone grocery shopping. One was a girl with long, wavy blonde hair and green eyes. No older than 17. Wearing a pink shirt and white jeans. She was pretty tall for her age, about 6 ft 7. The other was a little boy, with short, straight, chocolate brown hair, that reached about a third way down his forehead. No older than 7. He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses, dark enough to tint his eye color, but not so dark that you couldn't see his eyes. He was also wearing blue jeans. He was fairly short about 3 foot 9.

"You were a little tight on cash weren't you?," He asked the teenager.

She smiled, the way a sister would smile at their little brother.

"Sorry if I scared you," she apologized.

"What'd you get?,"

"I'm not saying anything. What if one of the kids followed us like last time? They'll hear and spoil the surprise,"

"Ya. Well they can hear that too,"

"What about you?,"

The boy paused.

"You're not the easiest people in the world to buy dinner for,"

She looked at him before her smile faded.

"Ryan. You didn't get microwavable dinners did you?,"

"No! Frozen pizzas,"

The girl stopped but Ryan kept walking. The girl had a blank expression before her smile returned and she kept walking. She caught up with him and the two kept talking.

"I mean what do you buy the people who are letting you live in their house until you can get adopted for dinner?,"

Before she could respond they saw the crumbled warehouse. They stopped and saw Flash's body lying unconscious in the middle of the rubble.

"Oh my God!," the girl said.

She ran towards him, followed by Ryan. They got to the rubble and Ryan walked over to him and bent down.

"Looks like there was an explosion. He must have been right in the middle of it all,"

He stuck two fingers under the costume collar and onto his neck.

"Is he alive?," the teen asked.

"Barley," he responded.

"Well we can't just leave him hear,"

"I know! I know. What do you wanna do? Take him to a hospital?,"

"No! Do you know what would happen if we take him to a normal hospital? What if they decide to experiment on him? Who would stop them? Us?,"

"So what do you wanna do?,"

"Oh! I know we'll take him to the house medical bay. The doctors there specialize in metas,"

"Good idea. Grab an arm,"

The two struggled to drag the adult out of the rubble.

"I'm really glad we didn't park far," Nessa said as the two kept struggling.


	3. Chapter 3

They managed to get him in the back seat of the car and drove him back to the Home for Runaways and Endangered Children, where the two lived. It was a home specialized in getting metas, children who were in danger living with their biological parents, or old home, and special or troubled children taken care for and eventually adopted. It was a large mansion. The home worked a lot like a college. There were countless rooms where each child was assigned to live in while they were in the mansion. It had a large dinner hall, many rooms open to the inmates, such as a recreation room, a gym, a library, etc. It also had its own hospital where the best doctors who understood the medical needs of meta humans and regular human. In case something happened to one of the children at the home or someone was injured in the outside world. The two friends had gotten into the hospital and had gotten a doctor to help Flash. Ryan agreed to stay there until he woke up, while Nessa went to find his was a young child, no older than 5 who wore an orange shirt and navy blue shorts. He had a scrap of darker tan hair on his head , and blue eyes. He was a little shorter than Ryan. She had told him what happened and the boy went down to the medical bay to meet up with went to go talk to David. He had short (shorter than Ryan's) tan hair, and hazel eyes. He was wearing a grey shirt and black dress pants.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe you two! Why would you bring a superhero to our home? What's going to happen if he wakes up?," David said as the two were in the kitchen.

"Well what else did you want us to do, David? Just leave him there to possibly die?,"

"No! But do you really think the doctors could treat him?,"

"What do you think they've been doing?,"

David sighed. "Where's Flix?,"

"In the hospital ward with Ryan He wanted to go down there too, ,"

David sighed again.

"I'm worried about him Nessa. If.. ANYONE... ever finds out-,"

"I know, believe me, I know,"

And the two left the kitchen


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile…

Flix and Ryan were waiting in the waiting room.

"You sure this is a good idea?," Flix asked.

"Someone's gotta explain how he got here,"

"And the doctors… can't?,"

Ryan scowled at him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it,"

Flix smiled warmly.

"Don't worry Ryan, I know. I know what this guy means to you. He's who you look up to. He's who you've wanted to meet ever since you lost your-,"

"I asked you to stay with me BECAUSE you know my full backstory. I don't want everyone thinking I'm just some obsessed fanboy," Ryan cut him off.

"Dude. He's part of the Justice League. He's used to seeing fans all the time,"

Ryan seemed to zone out looking at the ground, when he remembered a scream he had tried so hard to forget.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!," a woman's blood curdling scream echoed in his mind.

Ryan shook his head and moaned slightly.

"You ok?," flix asked.

"Ya… Fine," Ryan said monotone.


	6. Chapter 6

The doctor stopped in front of the two kids.

"He's stable, and is starting to wake up. You can go in if you want," he said.

"Ok. Thank you," Ryan said.

The doctor nodded and walked away.

"Come on," Ryan said, getting off his seat and started walking towards the door.

Flix looked at him, then at the drop from the chair to the floor, sighed and dropped his head in defeat before jumping down from the chair to catch up with Ryan.

"You sure he won't be mad at us?," Flix asked.

The two reached the door.

"Pretty sure,"

"Pretty sure? Hey that isn't-,"

Before he could finish Ryan opened the door and went inside.

"-Good enough. Are you crazy?!," "Is he crazy?!," Flix asked the nurses at the front desks who had heard him. "How could he just walk in if he wasn't sure?,"

"He was joking," a male nurse said.

"Oh ya? How can you tell with him?,"

"You really think he would risk his and your well being like that?," a female nurse said smiling.

"Maybe. I mean I don't think he cares about this kind of thing anymore," Flix said.

"I don't think he ever cared about this kind of thing," the male nurse said.

"You know I can hear you," Ryan said from inside the room.

Flix sighed and rolled his eyes and followed Ryan inside the room and closed the door behind him.

Flash was beginning to moan and wiggle in his bed.

"Oh he's waking up finally," Ryan said.

"Goodie," Flix said dryly.

Ryan gently nudged him slightly.

Flash moaned and opened his eyes.

"Flash? Are you ok?," Ryan asked as the two stood on opposite sides of the bed.

"What? Where am I? Who are you people? What is this place?," Flash said slowly going into super speed talking.

"What?," Flix asked.

Flash jumped out of bed.

"Wait!," Ryan said but Flash ran out of the room before they could stop him.

"Well he's gone," Ryan said.

Flash ran back into the room looking angry.

"Or not," Ryan said.

"I'm in a hospital. Why did you two bring me here?," he hissed at the two.

He started walking towards the two as they walked backwards.

"I know this was a bad idea this guy is going to kill us," Flix whispered to Ryan.

"No he won't," Ryan whispered back.

He put his hand out.

"Now I know you're a reasonable man. So stop this and let's just talk…. Barry,"


	7. Chapter 7

That made Flash's eyes widened and stop dead in his tracks.

"You have my attention,"

"My friend and I found you unconscious in rubble. We decided to bring you here. The doctors here specialize in metas,"

Suddenly he heard a beep in his comm-link.

"Just a sec," he said.

"Flash, where are you?," he heard Batman's voice.

"I'm…. Where is this place?," he asked the kids.

"Uh… Central City's Home For Runaways and Endangered Children," Flix said.

"Central City's Home For Runaways and Endangered Children," Flash said.

"Well there's a very strong anomaly near you. One extremely powerful but small meta right next to you," Batman said.

Flash looked at the two kids in front of him.

"Get whoever you can down here," Flash said.

"What's going on?," Ryan asked.

Flash put a hand on his shoulder. He found the boy's reaction confusing though. He flinched. As if he was expecting Flash to hit him. But he pretended not to notice.

"Nothing," he said gently and took his hand off.

Ryan seemed to be glancing at it the whole time it was there.

They walked to the main lobby.


	8. Chapter 8

They all heard a ship.

"Looks like the justice League is here," Flash said.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Flix said.

"Act casual," Ryan told him as Flix walked towards the door.

"Casual is my middle name," Flix said before answering the door, seeing the League and starting to sweat.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hellooooooooooo," he said awkwardly.

Ryan groaned and facepalmed while Flash cringed.

"It's so good to see you people. No, aliens too! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out racist! Wait- Is it racist that I think that's racist? I mean… I'M HUMAN!," Flix panicked.

"Way to be subtle there Flix," Ryan called out and walked over to him. The gadget Batman was carrying suddenly started beeping.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ya, thanks for trying kid. I'll take it from here," Flash said and gently pushed Flix out of the way who ran away and his behind Ryan.

"Hey guys. I don't know how. But there two kids and someone else, one of their dad's know all of our secret identities,"

The rest of the league's eyes quickly widened and they walked in. They saw the two kids, Flix still hiding behind Ryan and Ryan looking a little nervous. Now the league just looked confused. Sure they were shocked that anyone could find out who they were, but when Flash said kids they were expecting hem to be in their teen years. How the heck did these two little kids find out. How did one of their dad's find out?! Batman glared at them and this sent Flix panicking again putting his hands up in surrender.

"Do whatever you want with me! Just don't arrest him!," Batman's glare intensified.

"What?," Hal asked.

"Don't beat him up and lock him in a dungeon somewhere it's not his fault his dad's a psychotic stalker!,"

"Dude! Dude! Calm down! Their not gonna hurt anyone- Wait are you?," Ryan asked trying to calm the younger boy down but then looking up at Batman.

Something that confused and slightly disturbed the league was that the BatGlare had no effect on the older boy. He actually looked a little bored looking at it. Had he just gotten used to worse? What's more intimidating than the BatGlare?

"No," Batman said calmly.

He walked over to the others and whispered.

"We need to keep an eye on them. Them just being in public's eye with this kid of information is bad enough. But there's something wrong with THAT one," he said referring to Ryan.

"Flash, he clearly trusts you. You watch him for a few days. Hal, you take the other one,"

"Me? Why me?,"

"Because we need them to be around those they trust in order to find out what they know and you're the only one he doesn't look at like he's afraid we're going to snap his neck,"  
Hal stared at him for a few seconds while Batman walked away. He was about to say something but then closed his mouth again.

"Fine," he said and slumped in defeat.


	11. Chapter 11

Flash walked over to the boys.

"Listen you guys know who we are under the masks right?," he asked.

The two boys nodded.

"Ok. Listen. Green Lantern and I are gonna come by tomorrow. And you guys are gonna be living with us for a few days ok?,"

The two boys looked at each other smiled and nodded.

"Don't get any ideas. Just a few days and then you're both coming back here," Flash said sternly.

"Whatever you say," Ryan said.

"Good boy," Flash replied.

He put a hand on Ryan's shoulder causing him to flinch again. This time Flash noticed a flash of an emotion in his eyes when he looked at his hand. Pure fear. Was he really expecting Flash to hit him? Why would he do that? Though, guessing by the fact that Flix was reacting to his flinching like it was a normal thing, this was a normal thing for Ryan to do. It made his stomach turn to think of what, or who, had made the poor boy that way. But he really didn't wanna focus on it.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning…

Flix was looking at a map. Ryan walked into his room looking tired, more emotionally than everything else.

"Did you find anything last night?," Flix asked.

"No. nothing. I couldn't find him anywhere," Ryan replied.

Flix groaned and scratched his head in frustration before turning his attention to the map.

"I don't get it. I know I sensed him all over this city for a few seconds. What's he doing? Working his way around the city? Showing off?," Flix asked.

Ryan yawned. Flix turned to him and his expression softened.

"You had a nightmare again didn't you?,"

"You're known me for years. I have a nightmare every night. What would have made last night special?,"

"Well… there is the whole thing with you getting to live with Barry, while I live with Hal. Who knows. He might end up getting attached to you,"

"Sorry to burst your bubble. But you heard him yesterday. This is a temporary thing," Ryan said in a monotone voice.

"Come on. Haven't you ever seen a movie? People always say that. They always end up building a connection,"

"Did he look like the guy looking to build a connection with me? Besides, you should be excited for yourself. You get to go live with Green Lantern,"

Ryan looked at his friend and smiled. Suddenly the loud speakers came on.

"Will Flix Leaf and Ryan Gizlove come down to the front desk,"

"That's us. You pack?," Ryan asked.

"I'm ready," Flix replied.

"Ok. I'll meet you down there,'

"Alright,"

And with that the two boys left the room.


	13. Chapter 13

Barry drove Ryan to his house, the ride home was almost completely silent. Ryan had fallen asleep shortly after they had gotten on the rode, which Barry found a little strange, even by kid standards he was going to sleep early. Each time he looked out he saw the boy squirm or jump in his sleep almost fitfully, but quickly went back to peaceful sleep. When they got to his house he gently woke Ryan up and they walked into the house.

"Iris, the kid's here," Barry said walking in and shutting the door behind him.

Iris came into the hall and saw the little boy.

"Oh hi, you must be Ryan. I'm Iris,"

"Hi," Ryan said sheepishly while the two shook hands.

"I'll show you to where you'll be staying,"

"Ok. Thank you,"

The two made their way towards the stairs.

"I'll get the rest of your bags," Barry said and went back out to the car.

Meanwhile Iris showed Ryan the guest room where he set down his backpack neatly.

"I'm sure you're hungry, why don't you come down for dinner?,"

"Um…. Ok,"

Ryan followed Iris to the kitchen.

…

Dinner was beyond awkward. Barry kept looking like he wanted to say something but didn't. Iris decided to break the tension and cleared her throat.

"So Ryan, tell us about yourself

Ryan swallowed the drink he was having and set the cup down.

"Ok. What do you wanna know?,"

"Well what do you like to do in your free time?,"

Ryan's face went blank for a minute but he quickly recovered before Barry or Iris could notice.

"Well I…. I like to run,"

"Oh something you and Barry have in common,"

Barry flashed a smile and grunted in acknowledgement. Iris laughter nervously.

"Um… if it's alright with the two of you, I think I'm gonna call it a night," Ryan said getting up from his chair.

He began to wash his dishes.

"Oh don't worry about that Ryan, I'll take care of it," Barry said.

"Are you sure?," Ryan asked turning the water off.

"Ya. You've had a hard day, so why don't you head up? After work tomorrow I have a meeting with the league so you can meet up with your friend there,"

"Oh… alright. Thank you… Well goodnight," Ryan said sheepishly and quickly went upstairs.

"Goodnight sweetie," Iris said.

Once the door closed Iris sighed and looked at Barry exasperated.

"Barry,"

"What? What did I do?,"

"You're as stiff as a board with that kid. He's a child, not a monster,"

"I know Iris, I'm trying, but something about him just seems off,"

Iris got up and gave Barry a kiss on the cheek.

"I know you are. But just try to warm up to him. It's the best way for you and Hal to do what you need to do. Beises look at this as a chance for us to get our parenting skills in shape for the twins,"

"What did I do to deserve a wife like you?,"

Iris laughed at Barry's flirting. A sound neither Barry or Iris were aware Ryan heard, and when he did he broke down on the floor crying.

"I miss you mom," he muttered softly.


	14. Chapter 14

Hal had pulled up to his apartment building, walked Flix to his apartment and opened the door..

"This is it. I'll put your bags into your room," Hal said.

"Oh… Thank you. You don't have to do that," Flix said, sensing Hal's nervousness.

"It's fine, just wait here," Hal said walking Flix inside the room.

He grabbed the boy's bags and put them into the guest room.

"Alright there you go," he said.

Flix's stomach soundly growled loudly.

"What was that?," Hal asked.

Flix- (Nervous laugh)

"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything in a while,"

"Then you should eat," Hal said simply.

"Uuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm," Flix said nervously, not knowing how to tell the Green Lantern that he didn't know his way around the kitchen and even if he did, he was too young to know how to cook. But Hal seemed to catch on.

"Oh, maybe I should get you something to eat,"

He walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Ummmm… You like microwavable food?,"

"Sure,"

"Allergic to anything?,"

"No, but I don't eat any kind of meat,"

Hal took a box out of the freezer.

"Well pizza it is then,"

…

The two were sitting on the couch watching a movie eating the pizza.

"So kid… how old are you? 6? 7?," Hal said, taking a gulp of his soda.

"5 actually,"

Hal's eyes widened and he spit out the soda, coughing violently.

Flix looked nervous.

"5?!,"

"Um, yes?,"

Hal clears his throat.

"Sorry, it's nothing. It's getting late, so… why don't you head off to bed?,"

Flix got off the couch.

"Ok. Need help cleaning up?,"

"No it's ok. I got it,"

"You sure?,"

"Ya. Goodnight,"

Flix could tell he wanted to say something else but dropped it.

"Ooook. Goodnight,"

Flix walked over to the guest room, sat on his bed and sighed.


	15. Chapter 15

The next afternoon Hal went to the hall of justice, caring Flix with his powers. He had covered flix with a cloak so no one could see him. He gently set the two on the ground.

"Alright, Flash should be here any second with Ry-,"

Just then Flash came in with Ryan, coving him with a blanket and holding him around the waist. He gently put him down on the ground and he took the blanket off as Flix took off the cloak.

"-an," Hal finished in shock.

"Hi Flix," Ryan said.

"Alright you two stay here, there's plenty of stuff to keep you occupied. We'll be back soon," Barry said.

"Ok, bye,"

The two left the room. Once the door closed both boys began talking.

"So… how's it going?,"

"Um… not well. You?,"

"Not well either,"

Both sighed and sat down on the chairs at the same time.

"So, you had another nightmare last night?,"

"Yyyyyup,"

 _Flashback_

 _Ryan was walking in pitch darkness._

" _Hello?," Ryan called out._

 _There was loud evil laughter close by._

 _The world rumbled, an large cloud of smoke with a psychotic smile started at him._

" _Run," the cloud whispered in a man's voice._

 _Ryan began to run through the darkness, the cloud threw smoke that turned into knives and they came towards the ground, the darkness turned blood red and a blood chilling woman's scream faded in to the point where it was almost deafening. The knives stabbed the ground, Ryan quickly dodged them. Suddenly he was holding onto a branch over the edge of a cliff, below him was an army of guns. The voice laughed again. The guns loaded and aimed at him. The branch broke and began to swing back and forth, Ryan clinged onto the branch. The branch broke and he fell towards the ground. A gun went off and there was a flash of light._

 _End of flashback_

"Yikes," Flix said.

"Yup,"

…

Later...

Hal and Barry were walking down the hall.

"What do you wanna do?," Barry asked.

"About the boys?," Hal asked.

"Ya. I mean last night, it was the weirdest thing, just long silence and stares. I mean what is that? Come on. Awkward,"

"Maybe we should try to appeal to their minds. Come on. We were their age once, what would kids their age?,"

Barry thought for a moment, then got an idea.

"Kids like amusement parks,"

"Perfect. I know one. We'll take them afterwards,"

"Great,"


	16. Chapter 16

That night, Hal was driving Barry and the boys to the amusement park.

"So where are we going?," Ryan asked.

"An amusement park," Barry answered.

They got to the large amusement park.

The four rode the ferris wheel. The ferris wheel was a bit awkward but it was clear they were having fun. They went on a roller coaster and the ride became more and more open. The kids began to laugh as they rode a small ride and Barry and Hal began to smile at them. The kids were playing at one of the carnival games while Barry and Hal were getting food.

"Hal? Barry Allen?," someone called.

The four looked over to see a man and a woman with two kids walking over.

"Oh hi. I've seen you guys around the office," Hal said.

"Hey Max aren't those the two kids from the orphanage?," the girl said.

"Ya, I think it is," Max said.

The two kids looked over. But they tried to ignore them.

"Say hi Ryan," the girl said.

"Hi Ryan," Max said.

Ryan looked over.

"Hi Ryan," the girl said in a nasty tone.

….

Meanwhile…

"I can't believe you let those two into your home," the woman said disgusted looking at the kids.

Barry and Hal looked confused.

"W- What do you mean?," Barry said, a little offended.

"Well Ryan came to the home with no parents on record. He was afraid of almost everyone. He was just so odd,"

What they didn't know was that the kids could hear them. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Same story with Flix. But he was just so odd. And Flix? Really who names their kid Flix?,"

"You know we can hear you! And Flix is short for Felix!," Flix called out.

Ryan sighed.

"We might be messes, but my mother says that just makes us full of potential," Flix told the two off.

The girl laughed.

"Wow. I guess I know now that both of you are rejected freaks,"

"Amanda!," the father snapped.

That comment got Ryan's head to shoot up from the game.

"What did you just say?," he challenged.

The girl seemed unfazed.

"I said I see why you live at an orphanage. I feel for you. Gosh I really do. It must be so awful to have parents that are so ashamed of you, that they'd throw you out like garbage," the girl said.

Ryan growled.

"Ok. You can not be ok with this," Hal said.

"Hal, let's just go before they do something-," Barry started before hearing a ding.

"I won!," Flix said.

The man handed him a teddy bear but before he could grab it, Max pushed him off the chair and snatched it.

"Stupid," Barry finished.

Ryan jumped off the chair and went over to help him up. Hal ran over because anything could get worse.

"Hey! What was that?! He won that! I saw him!,"

"Orphans don't deserve toys," the girl said.

Barry walked over, put his hands on Ryan's shoulders and pulled him closer in front of him.

"Are you really gonna let your kids treat them that way?," Barry scolded.

"Well they're not wrong," the woman said.

Before they could do anything, Hal snatched the bear away from him and gave it to Flix. Barry walked over.

"Get. Out. Of. Here,"

The family left quickly.

"You kids ok?," Barry asked.

Ryan nodded, Flix smiled.

"Thanks," They both said.

Barry got the food from the counter. He left his keys and Ryan grabbed them. Barry went back for them but didn't see them. Ryan poked him and when Barry turned around he handed him the keys. Barry chuckle and ruffled the boys hair playfully. Ryan swatted his hand away playfully.

Meanwhile…

Hal and Flix were in the bathroom. Hal left his wallet and Flix grabbed it. When Hal went back for it, Flix tugged on his shirt. When Hal turned around he handed it to him. Hal smiled and gave him a small nuggie playfully.


	17. Chapter 17

Later that night Hal and Flix were saying by to Barry and Ryan.

"See you guys," Barry said.

"Bye," Ryan said.

Hal lifted Flix up and flew away.

Barry and Ryan walked into the house before bursting out into laughter. They sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"That was fun thank you," Ryan said.

Barry smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

"Ya. No problem kiddo,"

Ryan sighed. "I don't think I've ever been to an amusement park,"

"What? Never? What about with your parents?,"

Ryan was quiet for a moment before sighing again. "My dad was never a good father. And my mom's dead,"

Barry looked at him sympathetically. "Oh. I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be. You didn't know,"

Barry could tell Ryan was upset. He put an arm around him.

"Hey, my mom's not alive either,"

"... Sorry,"

"So that's why you were at the home?,"

"Ya. After my mom died, my dad got really bad, so I ran off,"

"How old were you?,"

"I think… I was… 4,"

"My God,"

Ryan yawned. "Well what doesn't kill you makes you stronger I guess,"

Barry zoned out for a minute before feeling something at his side. Ryan had fallen asleep. Barry smiled and got up quietly. He gently picked Ryan up trying his best not to wake him up. He turned off the TV and walked upstairs. He opened the door to the guest room and pulled the blankets back. He gently set Ryan down on the bed and covered him with the blankets. He gently stroked his hair.

"Goodnight Ryan," he whispered, crept outside the room and quietly shut the door.


	18. Chapter 18

Meanwhile…

Hal and Flix were walking into the apartment.

"Had fun?,"

"Ya! Thank's Hal!,"

"No problem. So how about we just talk?,"

"Ok,"

The two sat down on the couch.

"So what do you wanna talk about?,"

"Hm. Well how about how you and Ryan met?,"

"Oh. That's a good story. Well I had just gotten to the house. And I was about two I'm sure you can tell that I'm not a really big kid. But in places like that kids will take advantage of the smaller ones. I think one day I was hiding out in my room during dinner when three older kids decided to mess with my stuff.

 _Flashback_

" _Hey come on! Let's see what else he has!,"_

 _One boy picked up a picture frame of Flix, a woman that looked like his mother and 8 older siblings._

" _Ah! No! Please stop! Leave it alone you guys! Ah! No! Keep away!,"_

 _The boy threw it to the ground, breaking it._

" _Ah!,"_

 _Flix groaned upset. Another kid put the piggy bank down._

" _There's just five dollars here. We should just smash him Doug,"_

 _A 4 year old Ryan came into the room._

" _Let's not Doug. He's not doing anything to you. How about we all just leave, no more harm done,"_

" _What do you care about it Gizlove?," the boy named Doug said._

" _Not much. But I'm not crazy about a bunch of kids beating up one kid half their size and age. So how about we settle this peacefully?,"_

" _I think we're gonna mug this little brat. So you and your stupid sunglasses inside should leave before you get hurt_

 _The boys threw Flix to the ground forcefully. Ryan growled. Just as Doug was about to beat up Flix, Ryan tackled him._

" _I SAID KNOCK IT OFF!,"_

 _Ryan easily knocked the older boy to the ground._

" _You're weird! Weird! Get away from me you freak!,"_

 _With that the older kids ran off. Ryan bent down to where Flix had curled up on the floor whimpering._

" _You OK big guy?,"_

" _... Go away,"_

" _Come on I'm not gonna hurt you,"_

" _Ya right. You're gonna beat me up and make me give you things like the other kids,"_

" _No I won't,"_

" _...,"_

 _Ryan sighed. "Forget it,"_

 _Ryan took his glasses off, revealing his turquoise eyes._

" _Look," he said._

 _Flix looked over, the unusual eye color got his attention. Ryan held up a large tray of food._

" _Nessa sent me up here with some food, she noticed you weren't at dinner,"_

 _Flix sniffled and looked up. "Really?,"_

" _Really,"_

 _Flix got up, took the tray and set it on his bedside._

" _Thanks,"_

 _Ryan walked over and picked up the broken picture._

" _So how are you settling in?,"_

" _Fine,"_

" _Is that you with your family,"_

" _Ya,"_

" _You guys seem close,"_

" _We were. But with 9 kids and my dad died before I was born. It was hard for my mom. That's one of the reasons I got sent here,"_

" _Sorry,"_

 _Ryan sighed. "My mom's not alive,"_

" _Sorry…. I've seen you in the hallway before. I was wondering if you wanna be friend?,"_

" _Ya sure,"_

" _R-Really?!,"_

" _Sure. I could use a friend. My name's Ryan. What's your's?,"_

" _Felix. But I always go by Flix,"_

" _Cool nickname,"_

 _The two shook hands._

 _End of Flashback._

"Everyone picked on me. Except for Ryan,"

"Whoa. Cool story,"

"Ya,"

"I'm sorry about your dad. My dad died in a line of duty too,"

"Oh, sorry,"

"Don't be. I mean he died when I was 10 I got to make memories with him, you didn't,"

Flix yawned. "Well, you can't miss what you never had,"

Hal zoned out when he heard Flix yawn again. He suddenly felt pressure on his arm. He looked down to see Flix had fallen asleep, snuggled against his arm. He looked so peaceful. Hal smiled, slowly got off the couch, picked up the small boy, walked to the guest bedroom and gently set him down in bed and tucked him in.

"Goodnight Buddy," Hal said.

He quietly left the room shutting the door.


	19. Chapter 19

The next afternoon Iris had taken Ryan and Flix to a restaurant while Hal and Barry were at a League meeting.

"Thanks for taking us here Iris,"

"No problem boys. Barry and Hal are working, you kids need something to do,"

Iris took out her phone.

"Just a sec, I'm gonna let them know we got here,"

Suddenly there was loud laughter. Ryan looked up from his food and his eyes went wide. He knew that laugh.

"Did you hear that?,"

Ryan looked over to see Flix covering his ears looking worried.

"...No,"

The laughter got louder and everyone grew quiet.

"Come on man. Don't do this," Ryan said.

"I. Hear. Nothing,"

The laughter got even louder. Everyone grew uncomfortable.

"You can't ignore that,"

"I hear no creepy laughter,"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything about creepy laughter,"

"Well good 'cause I didn't hear any!," Flix said defensively.

There was a smoke bomb. Everyone started screaming.

"Gosh darn it!," Flix exclaimed.

Meanwhile…

"Hey Barry we just got to the restaurant,"

The smoke hit and she was knocked to the ground.

"Iris? Iris?!,"

He could hear laughing from the other end and the line went dead.

Barry quickly got into his costume and reached hal over the comms.

"Hal?! Ya. Something's wrong! Meet me at the restaurant Iris said she was taking the kids to!,"

He ran towards the restaurant. The two boys got up from their seats and heard slow clapping. The clapping got louder and a anthropomorphic creepy clown doll walked over to them.

"I gotta say you are not easy to track down. Managed to get away from us for four years. But playtime is over, The Master's angry. And he wants to see you…. Onan,"

Barry and Flix got to the restaurant but couldn't get in.

"Oh come on where are they?," Hal said worried.

Inside…

"Ok. I think we're gonna have to give up the charade," Ryan said.

"Let's do it," Flix said enthusiastically.

Ryan nodded.

Barry ran over to another door, he tried to open the door but it was locked. He tried to vibrate through it, but it didn't work.

"What the-?! No! Come on!," Barry punched the door.

He saw Iris lying unconscious inside.

"Oh my God!,"

Meanwhile…

"You kids caused us a lot of trouble. Master's not going to stop until you're in a box… 6 feet underground," the clown puppet said.

"It's called a coffin," another puppet like the clown said.

"He knows that it is!," the clown puppet snapped.

Ryan grabbed a glass of water from the table and gulped it down, and put the glass down.

"Alright guys,"

He raised an eyebrow, looking determined.

"Let's do this,"

Barry kept pushing at the door.

"What are you doing?,"

"Iris is in there. The kids might be too,"

"I got this,"

He made a fist with his power and punched the door but it didn't make a dent and just created a blast sending him flying backwards.

"Whoa!,"

He hit the ground hard. "I don't got this," he said.

Suddenly they saw another speedster looking fairly young wearing a blue version of Flash's suit and a tiny green goblin/gargoyle creature. With a scrap of darker green hair on his head and a teal cape. They were both trailer very well. The speedster was running circles around the puppets disorienting them and then punching them to the ground. The green creature raised his hand. A teal power appeared around it. A trailer of teal colored magic came out of his hand and created a giant sentence Venus fly trap that viciously attacked other puppets.

"What the he-," Barry started.

"You two are good but I don't think you're gonna be as sturdy when I hurt your friends outside," the clown puppet said raising a gun at Hal.

"No!," the gobbin- gargoyle creature said, he suddenly took flight towards the door, he raised his hand again, creating a giant tulip in front of the door.

When the gun went off the tupid didn't even budge, it was bullet proof.

"And there's more where that came from," the creature said.

The puppet shot at him but he dodged.

"Ha! Missed!,"

The speedster looked around before spotting the device creating the force field.

"Now what?,"

"See what you can do about that device. I'll cover you," the speedster said.

"I'm on it,"

The creature flew over to the device. Suddenly on of the puppet grabbed him and pulled his cowl off, revealing Ryan's face scowling at it.

"Ryan?!," Barry yelled.

"Oh great," Ryan moaned.

"Dude, we're gonna be in so much trouble," the creature said.

"Forget that for now," Ryan said and send a powerful kick to the puppet throwing it across the room. "Can you let them in?,"

"Well… Hey. One of my monster plants could eat this,"

"What? How do you know?,"

"It's just like how they ate that vase that time at the home,"

"If you're sure,"

The creature created the power again but he got thrown away but a blast of water. He grunted, hit a pipe line and fell to the ground unconscious. He quickly grew in size, morphing into Flix. Hal saw him and he had a similar reaction to Barry.

"Oh God no," he mumbled and the two tried harder to get in watching the events unfold helplessly.

"You rise with the nature. I rise with the filth," One puppet said.

Flix struggled to get up but failed. The puppet raised the horse again ready to turn it back on.

"Now-," he started before Ryan ran over and punch him out of the furiously, throwing him across the room.

Ryan bent down to Flix as Flix slowly tried to get up again.

"I feel like I was just hit by the bus," Flix said.

The two stood up.

"You can rest later," Ryan said.

He ran off to keep fighting. Flix went back to the device and created a large Venus fly trap that grabbed the device and ate it. The force field disappeared and Flix got rid of the plant.

"Flix?! What are we doing?," Barry asked.

"Ummmm….,"

Suddenly Ryan was thrown to the ground and into a wall. The clown puppet threw a jack in a box going on towards him. Flix's eyes widened and he ran over. The jack in a box went off in an explosion. When the smoke cleared the two adult saw that Flix had made an explosion proof flower bulb around them, keeping them safe. The two adult quickly started fighting. Hal constructed a net and put them all in it. Barry ran around them with a rope tying them all up. Their scowls at the boys made them nervous. Flix let the force field down and morphed back into a boy, rubbing his arm nervously. Ryan thumped his chest, turning the costume back to his leather jacket. Iris walked back to the room groaning.

"Iris?! Are you OK?," Barry asked running over.

"I think so," she said.

The others looked relieved, but Flix's face suddenly turned as white as a sheet.

"R- Ra- Riii," he stuttered.

Ryan looked behind him as his face turned even more white. He gasped. Barry and Hal got into fight ready position before realizing it was only a hologram. Ryan however, didn't get any better. His legs quickly gave out from under him and he fell to the ground crawling as far away from the hologram as possible, unable to talk. The hologram speedster laughed cruelly and made the cut-throat motion smirking. Before disappearing.

"Well I will say that wasn't exactly what I was expecting him to do. Seems kind of, ineffective," the clown puppet said.

"What's ineffective about threatening to kill me? OK. You're just…. And…. I-I don't wanna….. Oh God not again," Ryan said.

Ryan began to take shallow rapid breath, he had has hand on his heart,"

"Ryan? ," Flix asked.

Flix quickly ran over to him and bent down trying to calm him down.

"Ryan? Ryan! It's OK he's gone! Just breathe!," Flix said, not yelling but his voice was still urgent with panic.

"Barry. How was that?," Iris asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before," Barry said.

"Does the world really need more evil speedsters? Seriously," Hal said.

The clown doll chuckled.

"Poor boy. Even seeing an image of the master for a few seconds drives him into a complete state of panic,"

Hal put a glass case over the dolls.

"You talk too much," he said.

The three turned their attention to the kids. Ryan had calmed down and the two had stood up.

"I don't know what you two thought you were doing. You could have been killed!,"

"Um… We knew what we were doing. We've had these powers since-," Flix started but Barry interrupted him.

"But you're not heroes! You're children!," Barry said harshly, and pulled his cowl on.

The kids had stuttered from the harsh words.

"Just stay here. We got this. We're gonna make sure all the dolls are gone then we'll come back," Hal said and flew off after them.

When the kids were alone Ryan sat on crate and started sniffling.

"It'll be OK right? They'll forgive us right? They were- they were just worried about our safety. Hal was just worried about what could happen. Barry was scared for his wife," Flix said trying to cheer him up.

"No they won't. Not when he find out about me dad. He's gonna hate me. And it's all my fault," Ryan said beginning to cry harder.

"...,"

Ryan sniffled.

"Flix?," he asked, Flix was never this quiet when he was upset.

He turned around to see the clown puppet holding Flix, keeping his hands behind his back and covering his mouth. Flix screamed through the hand for help as he struggled to get free. The clown puppet cackled. Ryan gasped and jumped into fight ready position.

"Let him go! Let him go now! Now!," Ryan demanded.

Another puppet crept up behind him and bashed him in the head with a crowbar, knocking him unconscious. Flix continued to scream.

"You know that'll be much more threatening once puberty hits him," the clown puppet said.

The clown looked at the other puppets who had gotten free.

"Get rid of the little one. The Master only cares about Onan,"


	20. Chapter 20

Meanwhile… the adults were looking through the halls for any more dolls.

"See anymore of those things Hal?,"

"No. Whatever they were they didn't leave a trance anywhere. What were those things?,"

"I have a feeling the kids know. I can't believe they would do that I mean what if-,"

"I know. I know. We were all concerned for their safety. But remember, you boys were kids once too. And like it or not they were doing the only thing they could think of. Would young have thought of something better? Would young any of you? I know you were worried they would have gotten hurt and it's very sweet that you care for them. But don't you think you were a little too hard on them back there?," Iris reasoned.

The two looked at each other, they knew she was right.

…

"Ryan listen I-," Barry started as the three walked back but they didn't see the kids.

"Flix, you can come out now," Hal said.

He heard muffled screaming and ran down the hallway.

…

Flix was struggling against the ropes that kept his hands together behind his back and the cloth the dolls had shoved deep into his mouth. A doll threw him to the ground and stepped on his stomach hard. Flix tried to get away but the doll pushed harder, making it almost impossible to breath. The puppet laughed when suddenly a green light blasted it into a wall. Hal ran over and his eyes went wide when he saw Flix on the ground.

"My God," he said and ran over

He sat Flix up and pulled the gag out. Flix took a deep gasp of breath before coughing aggressively while Hal untied him.

"Are you OK?!," Hal asked urgently when he was done.

"Ya. I'm fine, but they took Ryan downstairs,"

Flash's eyes widened and he quickly ran down the hall towards the stairs.

Meanwhile…

Ryan was dangling over a large tank of water, trapped in a harness connected to a metal chair connected to a crank. Ryan was struggling to get free. He tried to vibrate out but only got an electrical shock. The clown puppet laughed.

"Save your strength. This harness is made completely out of rubber. And that's the one thing your powers don't work on,"

"What do you want Honker?,"

"Nothing. But the master said we can have some fun with you before we take you in to him,"

"... What do you mean have fun? You mean like shoot me in both my legs and leave me in a room on fire to vibrate the bullets out and crawl my way to safety. That routine's getting old,"

"Oh wait did you-?! Ha! On no, no of course not! We're not allowed to do anything that would physically or mentally harm you for a long term. Master wants to do that on his own afterwards,"

Ryan gulped nervously.

"No, I was thinking something much more short-term,"

The clown detached the crank causing Ryan to fall full speed towards the tank. Ryan yelped a bit. Just then Flash came running in but the puppets were ready for him. One tripped him and others held him down. Flash struggled to get free. Ryan hit the cold water and immediately swam back up in shock coughing and spitting water.

"That's better," the clown puppet said walking away from the platform.

"Oh big deal. I can still swim you know,"

"I'm counting on it," the clown puppet said, pulling a electrical wire out of a machine. Barry gasped, he knew what the clown doll was going to do.

"Wait what are you-,"

The clown hung the wire over. Ryan's eyes widened and he tried to swim out of the tank.

"No. No! No! No!,"

The doll dropped the wire into the water electrifying it and shocking Ryan. Ryan screamed in pain.

"NOOOO!," Barry screamed in horror.

The others made it to the basement. Iris watched in horror.

"Ryan!," Flix said.

Hal put his hands on his shoulder to keep him from running over. The clown puppet laughed again. Suddenly something snapped in Barry. He could feel his blood boil more than anything ever has. He screamed furiously and broke free of the dolls, throwing them across the room. He ran up the metal stairs.

"Ya. I think he wants first crack at him," Hal said.

The clown puppet kept laughing before he saw the blur.

"Huh?,"

Flash punched the clown unconscious and threw him off the platform. When he looked over the platform and saw Ryan's screaming slowly stopped and the boy lost consciousness, going under the water.

"Ryan. No," Flash said grabbing the chain and pulling it up.

Barry tied off the chain, disconnected Ryan's harness from the chain and grabbed him, holding him close to his chest tightly, trying to get his own panic under control.

"I gotcha. Just hold on. Stay with me,"

Barry set Ryan down on the platform gently.

"Is he dead?," Iris asked concerned.

"He can't be," Flix denied.

Barry carefully removed Ryan's harness. The clown doll laughed again. Barry growled and threw the harness at him. He went back to caring for Ryan. He put an ear by his chest and could hear a normal speed heartbeat for a speedster. Barry sighed and rolled Ryan onto his side. Suddenly Ryan coughed out water violently and moan slightly.

"Take it easy kiddo. You're gonna be just fine," Barry reassured.

Suddenly Barry, Iris and Hal were blasted unconscious.

"OK, enough. We're taking Ryan to Master,"

Flix quickly levitated Barry and Ryan towards him.

"No! No you're not! No you're not!," Flix said making another flower bulb force field around all of them.

"You won't get away for long Rebirtho," the clown puppet sneered making Flix's eyes go wide.

Ryan gain consciousness.

"It feels like there's a truck sitting on my chest,"

"You gonna be OK?,"

"Eventually,"

"I gotta get us out of here. I'm taking us to my home. They won't be able to track us there,"

"Good idea,"

Flix made the bulb float and flew away. He flew into a portal.

"Have I mentioned yet how much I hate those guys?," Flix asked.

"Only a billion times," Ryan said with difficulty talking before passing out again. There was a flash of light and all five of them came out of the portal. Flix collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. The door to the house they were in cracked open. A woman ran over to him.

"Felix!," she said worried.

"Please mom, not that name," Flix said before passing out.


	21. Chapter 21

Hal slowly woke up.

"Hal? Haaaaal? Wake up," Flix said.

Hal and Ryan were standing on either side of his bed.

"What… happened?," he asked groggily.

He suddenly shot up in the bed, both boys put hands on his shoulder to keep him down.

"Where's Barry?," he asked. "Actually, where are we?,"

"In my family's home. An island in the Bermuda Triangle. The dolls can't track us here," Flix answered before groaning and clenching his head in pain. Ryan quickly supported his weight before her fell and gently set him on the ground.

"Hey take it easy," Ryan told him.

"You ok?," Hal asked.

"Ya. It's just that it takes up a lot more energy to bring 5 people here than just 3 of them. I'll be ok,"

"Good, what about Barry and Iris?,"

"They're still unconscious. The best doctors are looking after them," Ryan said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Hey, if you're feeling better, why don't I show you around a bit while Ryan stays here and waits for Barry and Iris to wake up?,"

"I don't know kid, we need to get back and kick those dolls' butts,"

"You're gonna need a plan when Barry wakes up anyway. Soon as they wake up we'll come right back, promise,"

"The island is beautiful," Ryan chimed in.

Hal raised an eyebrow at Flix.

"I guess stretching my legs a bit would be the best," he said getting out of bed.

"Yes!" Flix cheered.

"I don't think so," an older brunette boy, around 12 said coming in.

Flix scowled.

"I don't care how much you like these guys Flix, you shouldn't have brought them here, sure Ryan's OK but we don't know the rest of them. You can forget about taking them out of here,"

"Would father have been this distrusting?," Flix tested.

The older boy growled and loomed over him.

"If you use dad like that one more time I will punch you in the face," he said.

Flix looked unfazed.

"Jake, let him do what he wants. Nothing's gonna happen," an older red headed boy said walking past the room.

Jake raised an eyebrow than sighed.

"Fine, you're funeral," Tom said and left the room.

…

Outside…

Hal got his first good look at the island. Flix was right it was breathtaking, it looked very clean and pleasant. The ground and forest was littered by flowers and other plants he's never seen and the village consisted of man, woman, and children.

"Wow," Hal said

"I know right," Flix replied.

…

Meanwhile…

Barry and Iris were just waking up.

"Iris, are you OK?," Barry asked.

"Ya fine," she said.

She then saw Ryan.

"Oh thank God you're OK," she said.

Ryan saw the the two and gulped nervously.

"Ryan," he said sitting up in the bed. "Come here for a minute,"

Ryan slowly, and nervously walked over to his bed as Barry swung his feet over the side.

"Hey," Barry said.

"...Hi,"

Barry sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you two. Those things never would have gotten to you if I hadn't,"

"That's OK. I know you were just worried about us. You're right, we are kids,"

Barry smiled a bit. "Actually, from what I saw you're both pretty advanced fighters for your age,"

Ryan laughed a bit.

"But anyway. You wanna tell me why that guy in the flash suit was threatening to kill you?,"

Ryan looked away for a moment.

"Oh. Ya. Him," Ryan said humorlessly.

"Ryan, Barry can help you," Iris reassured.

"It's OK. You don't have to tell me right now if you don't want to," Barry said.

"No. It- It's OK. I want to," Ryan said sitting on the bed next to him.

Her sighed, trying to find a good way to explain.

"So you know how I told you my dad was never a good father?,"

Barry nodded.

"Well…. He was created, to replace Jay if he ever turned evil. But then when you took over he went crazy. He killed all of his creators and went off killing other families until he met my mom and decided he wanted to have a kid…. But when he did and I showed my powers he only got worse. He always terrified and threatened my mom. If I did something that he didn't see as perfect, whether it be not doing something right during training or just spilling a glass of water over he would grab me, get right in my face and start screaming at me, just ever horrible insult he could come up with… He would…,"

Barry looked at him sympathetically. Iris looked horrified.

"He would beat me… real bad… all the time. He said that that's what I get when I disrespect him or just being a stupid worthless piece of trash. He said that he was teaching me a lesson. Guess I was a pretty bad stupid, cause the lessons never stopped,"

Barry had grabbed the sheets on the bed in anger, Iris looked ready to cry.

"But my mom got tired of putting up with it. So she decided to run away and take me with her.

 _Flashback_

 _A robotic version of Superman was running from a much younger Ryan, looking only 3 years old._

" _Come on Robo Superman, don't make me break out the kryptonite again," he said._

 _Suddenly the training session stopped. Ryan looked around confused but saw his mother with tears in her eyes at the control panel._

" _Pack your things. We're leaving,"_

"I stayed with her for a few months, but then my dad found us,"

 _Young Ryan was sleeping in his new room when he heard his mom screaming and shot up from his bed._

" _Huh?,"_

 _He heard his mom continue to scream. He got out of bed and quietly walked down the hallway to the living room._

" _You're insane! He's a child!," his mom screamed._

" _You think you have any right to take my kid away?! Who the hell do you think you are?!," he heard a man's voice say._

 _Ryan's blood went cold, he knew that voice. He heard glass break and his mom scream and ran into the living room to see his mother laying on the ground with his father standing over her._

" _Ryan run!," she yelled._

 _Ryan went to run._

" _Stay boy!," his father ordered._

 _Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. His father walked over._

" _Scott. Don't do this," Ryan's mother said weakly._

" _Shut up!,"_

 _Ryan's dad kneeled down to his son's level and smiled._

" _Hey it's ok," his dad cooed, before slapping him forcefully sending him several feet away to the floor._

 _Ryan's dad picked up a kitchen knife from the table and walked back over to Ryan's mouth and kneed her to the floor, sitting on top of her._

" _No. Scott. I love you," Ryan's mother begged._

" _Like I care," Ryan's dad said._

 _He stabbed her as hard as he could in her upper chest._

" _Nooooooooooooo!," She screamed._

" _Nooooooooooo!," Ryan screamed watching helplessly from the floor as Ryan's dad super speeded Ryan's mom out of the house followed by Ryan. Ryan coughed due to the dirt._

" _MOM?!," he called out._

 _He suddenly saw his mother's body on the dirt._

" _Mom? Mom,"_

 _He ran over and shook his mother trying to wake her up._

" _Mom! Mom! Mommy!,"_

 _He heard his mother's last breath come out. Ryan began to cry knowing his mom wasn't waking up. His father walking over._

" _Get up,"_

" _Mom?!,"_

" _Get. Up!,"_

 _Ryan's father kicked him harshly. "On your feet!," he screamed._

 _He grabbed Ryan and ran back to his house. Ryan's father threw Ryan forcefully into his room._

" _You ever betray me again I'll kill you. This is all your fault. You killed her," the father said and slammed the door shut._

 _Ryan just broke down sobbing in his room._

End of flashback

Iris had her mouth covered with tears rolling down her face. Barry looked horrified, he knew what it was like to have his mother be murdered.

"Oh God," he said under his breath.

Ryan started tearing up.

"I got out of there as soon as I could. I'm really sorry I got you and Iris into this. Please don't hate me. He knows where I am now. He'll never stop coming after me. … Barry, I'm scarred," Ryan said looking away, tears rolling down his face.

Barry put a hand on his shoulder, making him look back up at him.

"No need to be son. I won't let him hurt you ever again," Barry said reassuringly.

Ryan looked shocked but nodded. But he couldn't hold back his emotions anymore. He practically jumped into Barry's arms, wrapping his arms as tightly as he could around the man's torso and broke down sobbing. Barry quickly recovered wrapping an arm around Ryan's back and another protectively at the back of his head. He looked up at Iris, how was still in too much shock to say anything.

"You're safe," was the only thing Barry could say to Ryan.

All he could do was continue to holding Ryan as tightly and securely as he could, and with in a few minutes Ryan, seemed to calm down and smile from the feeling safety, comfort and warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.


	22. Chapter 22

With Flix and Hal…

They had gotten back to the house and where spending time in Flix's old room.

"OK. So you were right. It is amazing here," Hal said.

"Told you. Now if only if we could find out how the dolls and Scott found us," Flix said.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe-," a young girl a little older than Flix said before covering his mouth. "What if they teamed up with the droglings," she said.

The other kids went silent.

"What? That's ridiculous. It was probably something stupid like they put a tracker in his suit or one of the dolls saw his in a toy store. It wasn't the droglings," the oldest boy said.

"Ya you're right, no way it was-," the girl said.

Suddenly a black portal opened up behind her. The kids looked scared before the oldest boy and girl got in front of Flix, with their hands glowing their own colors followed by Flix doing the same thing. A creature that looked like them but black came through the portal.

"Hello, children," it said before collapsing on the ground.

The three kids powered down.

"What is that?," Hal asked.

"A drogling," the older boy replied.

Hal started to walk over to it. And Flix followed him.

"Flix… wait," the girl weakly tried to stop him but failed.

The two crouched down on either side of the drogling.

"Is it dead?," Flix asked.

"It's dying," Hal said. "There's nothing I can do for it at this point,"

"Scott… is…. Coming…. He… killed... half… of…. Us…. R-Run…..," he croaked out before dying.

"We need to go now," Hal said.

Later…

Hal and Barry had dropped Iris, Ryan, and Flix at their respected houses before leaving to go to the watchtower. Ryan was sitting in his room uncomfortable when he heard a thud and Iris's muffled voice. He creaked the door open.

"Iris?," he called out. "You OK?,"

Suddenly the glass window shattered.

"What the-,"

Ryan got a face full of gas, and he stumbled back coughing before his vision began to blur. The last thing he saw was a clown doll walking towards him.

"What's the matter Onan? Sleepy?,"

Ryan collapsed the the ground but Honker held him up before he could hit his head.

"Come on now. Your father has an appointment with you,"

He began to drag Ryan away.


	23. Chapter 23

Inside a dark, dank room, Ryan was just waking up.

"What the-,"

He suddenly felt something hard wack him off the cold metal chair he was sitting on. He heard footsteps walk over to him.

"Wow, that looked like it really hurt,"

Ryan shivered, he knew that voice. A large muscular hand grabbed him by the back of the shirt and he was suddenly stuck in the gut by a hard fist, knocking all the wind out of his lungs and began coughing fitfully.

"Oh, now wait a minute, that looked like it hurt even more," the father said cracking his knuckles. "So let's try to clear this up, shall we son? What hurts more? A?,"

He stuck Ryan with a punch again.

"Or B?," he kicked him hard sending him across the room.

"1?," he hit him again, harder.

"Or 2?," he hit him again even harder.

Ryan who had been taking the beating with just grunts, had began to scream and cry as the blows got worse.

"That's right. This will teach you to disobey me," he said getting closer to the boy.

Meanwhile…

Barry had gotten a call from Iris of her screaming and struggling. He had rushed home and found her tied up in the closet.

"Iris?! What happened?!," Barry asked helping her up.

"It was those dolls again. They found out where we live, Barry they got Ryan!,"

Barry's eyes widened and he quickly took out his phone and called Hal's apartment.

"Hello?," Flix said on the other end.

"Hey Flix it's me. Look the dolls found out where I live they took Ryan,"

"What?!,"

"Don't panic OK? I'm gonna find him. Do you know where they would've taken him?,"

"Ummm…. Ryan's old house. It's in the nature park right outside of the city, right on the other side of these mountains you can't miss them," Flix said.

"Great thanks kiddo. As soon as I find him i'll let you know,"

"OK, thanks Barry,"

Barry hung up.

"I'm going after him," Barry said.

"Be careful," Iris said.

"I always am," Barry said and ran off.


	24. Chapter 24

Barry was running through the mountains and saw the house just like Flix said. It was very unsettling, the house looked broken down and abandoned. He ran over the the door but just as he went over the the door a giant trap came out of the ground, changing his arms and legs down and held him up right and carried him inside. He struggled to get free but the restraints wouldn't budge. He heard slow clapping and footsteps walking towards him. A man dressed in a black version of his suite walked over.

"Barry Allen. Scott Gizlove. I knew you would come,"

The clown puppet walked over to him.

"Did we kidnap the boy well enough master?,"

"Yes you did very well," Scott said smiling, slightly rubbing the top of the doll's head.

"Where's Ryan?," Flash sneered.

The two looked confused.

"Ryan? There's no Ryan here," Scott said.

"Oh he must be talking about Onan," the clown dolls said.

"Ah yes, my stupid little brat," Scott growled.

He turned to the doll.

"See that we aren't disturbed.

The doll nodded and walked out of the room.

"WHERE IS HE?!," Barry demanded.

"Who do you think you are? Bruce Wayne?," Scott said.

Barry looked shocked and Scott smirked.

"Oh yes. I know all of you. You're strengths and weaknesses, my creators taught me. Shame they had to let me down, I wouldn't have had to kill them. But I'll humor you," Scott said.

He walked behind the curtains.

"Get out here you little pest!," he sneered.

He grabbed Ryan by the back collar of his jacket and dragged him into the light. Ryan groaned as his father threw his bruised and battered body onto the floor. Flash's blood started boiling, the kid did not look good at all.

"What did you DO TO HIM?!," he demanded.

"Taught this pile of trash what happens when he disobeys his father. I was saving the best part to show you," Scott said.

Ryan lifted his head slightly and mumbled something neither one of them could here. Scott kneeled down next time.

"What's that you little insect?," he asked pulling Ryan by his hair.

"Ow!," Ryan hissed.

"I think I may have broken a couple…. Dozen things, that always made you a mumbler didn't it?," Scott said ruffling his hair.

Ryan hissed slightly. Scott stood up and kicked him hard in the side causing him to roll over a few times. Barry, who was watching this, began to struggle even harder.

"That's what I thought," Scott said.

"Leave him alone," Flash said.

Ryan began to crawl away but Scott stomped on his back pinning him to the ground.

"Ow! Father! Please! Stop!," Ryan begged.

"Shut up!,"

He kicked Ryan again.

"LEAVE. HIM. ALONE!," Flash roared.

"DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO TO MY SON!," Scott screamed before turning his attention back to Ryan.

Flash started vibrating his left arm so fast the restraint came off. He smirked and began doing the same thing to the other arm, while keeping a close watch of the the two in front of him.

"Alright kiddo, time to wrap this up," Scott sad and grabbed a long knife from the table.

"What the- Father what are you doing?! Just put the knife down!," Ryan said panicking and scooting away.

Flash's eyes widened and he got his other arm free and began to work on his legs.

"Oh and when you're dead, tell that worthless mother of your's, I said hello,"

Scott leaned over as Ryan was crawling away and grabbed his leg.

"No! Stop! Get off! No!," Ryan started screaming and struggling as Scott pulled him towards himself.

"SHUT UP! YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE NUISANCE! NO ONE LOVES YOU!," Scott screamed holding Ryan's head up by his hair and holding the knife in front of his throat.

At that point Flash snapped. He got both his legs free and ran towards the man, while he was forcing Ryan onto his back ready to strike him with the knife. Flash punched him in a rage getting him off Ryan.

"Huh?," Ryan said lifting his head up watching the fight.

Flash kept punching the other man hit after hit, tied him up with a rope and pinning him to the ground. He then went over and bent down next to Ryan checking him over.

"Are you OK?," he asked quietly and gently putting his hand on Ryan's side.

Ryan hissed slightly. Suddenly Scott broke through the ropes, Flash turned his attention back to him.

"I'll admit it, you put up a good fight. Too bad I fight dirty," he said, smirking.

He took out a remote and hit the button on it. All the dolls could be heard screaming. He then took out a grenade. Flash got ready to try and stop him but he had already pulled the pin.

"Whoa!," Flash cried.

He grabbed Ryan trying to be as gentle as possible and got behind a metal wall in the room, slide to the floor and held Ryan close to his chest with his back towards the explosion. When the explosion died down both of them had the catch their breath. Flash sat up, still holding onto Ryan, and looked past the wall they were behind.

"W-What did he do?," Ryan asked quietly.

Flash looked down at him and sighed and picked Ryan up and walked him back into the room. Ryan gasped. There lying in the middle of the wreckage was his father, breathing heavily, dying. Flash set Ryan down next to him and crouched down checking his pulse. Ryan crawled over to him.

"F-Father?," Ryan choked out.

Scott chuckled.

"You're all alone now, orphan….. I win," he choked out before his eyes closed and he died.

Ryan shook him gently.

"Father? Father?! Please no. No. Not again," Ryan begged before he started sobbing.

Flash put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Ryan. I know how you feel. But it's going to be okay buddy,"

Ryan threw himself into Flash's chest, hugging him and sobbing hysterically and shaking. Flash removed his cowl and pulled Ryan up into a hug.

"You're going to be okay. I promise," Barry whispered to him.

Barry didn't force Ryan to stop. He let Ryan get it all out. He just kept stroking the little boy's hair and whispering reassurance to him. Soon enough he felt Ryan pass out in his arms. He lift him up and carried him out.


	25. Chapter 25

Later…

Hal and Flix were waiting in Allen's house. Hal noticed how nervous Flix looked.

"Hey, he'll be OK. He should be waking up soon. Barry's with him,"

"That's good,"

"Hey cheer up. If it wasn't for you Barry probably wouldn't have found him,"

"I guess. I just don't know how we're gonna explain this to the home,"

"Hm... Funny you should mention that. Cause, well I talked to the person in charge and got in contact with your mother, and well she and I agreed that, only if you want of course, it be nice if you didn't have to stay in a children's home, and to actually have a father figure in your life,"

Flix looked at him in shock in surprise at the piece of paper Hal was showing him. He took the paper in his own hands and smiled. He immediately jumped up to hug Hal. Hal was surprised but hugged him back.

"Thank you Hal,"

Hal chuckled.

"Ya, after everything we've been through the past couple days you two have made it impossible to bring you back," Hal said ruffling his hair.

Suddenly Flix looked up at him nervously.

"Um… Hal?,"

"Ya?,"

"Um… Is it ok if I call you dad?," Flix asked quietly looking down.

Hal looked surprised for a moment but soon smiled warmly at him.

"Of course you can kid," he said.

And the two hugged again.


	26. Chapter 26

Meanwhile…

Ryan was just waking up in his bedroom. He groaned and sat up. He had been out long enough for his body to completely heal. He saw Barry sitting at the foot of his bed with a piece of paper in his hand. He noticed Ryan was awake.

"Ryan," he sighed relieved. "You're OK,"

"What happened?,"

"Your father killed himself and all the puppets, to try and hurt us even more. You passed out soon after and I brought you here. If you didn't heal so quickly we would have been more worried,"

"Oh…," Ryan said looking down.

Barry moved over closer to him.

"Hey, you ok?,"

Ryan looked up.

"Ya Um… Ya... Are you?

"Ya,"

Barry looked at the sheet that was in his hand one last time before taking a deep breath

"Hey, I got good news for you,"

"Hmmm?,"

He handed the paper to Ryan who looked at it shocked.

"Well I talked to Iris, and if you'll have us, we would really love to have you as out son,"

Ryan looked at the paper still shocked.

"...What?,"

"Ya. I know you've been through a lot. But I hoped this would help you-,"

Barry suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of him. He looked down to see Ryan squeezing him in a tight hug.

"Yes! Yes, thank you Barry!,"

Barry chuckled and hugged him back.


	27. Chapter 27

Several days later…

Green lantern and Leaf landed on the ground by Hal's apartment building.

"So how was your first day on the job?,"

"It was awesome! Thanks for letting me help you dad,"

"Ya, no problem big guy. He you saw Ryan yesturday, you think he's gonna be ok with the changes?,"

"Ya. For the first time in a long time, I think he's gonna be just fine,"

Meanwhile…

Barry and Ryan were standing on a sidewalk in their costumes.

"You ready Blur?,"

"Ready dad,"

The two ran off.


End file.
